Photo: Screenshot of sohu.com

Two trains carrying coal collided on Thursday afternoon on the Daqin Railway, a major artery for coal transportation in China, causing congestion in coal transport from the west to the east. 

The collision occurred around 1 pm in the afternoon, and the railway department is conducting rescue work, according to CCTV. No casualties have been reported yet. 

CCTV reported that the two trains were carrying about 20,000 tons of coal. 

The railway department dispatched six rescue trains and nearly 1,000 staff to carry out rescue work and clear the line at the fastest speed.

Daqin railway runs from Datong city, North China’s Shanxi Province to Qinhuangdao city, North China’s Hebei Province, with a total length of 653 kilometers. It is an important trunk line for coal transportation from coal-producing areas such as Shanxi and Inner Mongolia to eastern areas of the country.

Official data showed that the Daqin Railway's coal transportation volume exceeded 100 million tons in the first quarter, and the daily transportation volume is around 1.3 million tons.